Neilalien's Favorites of MoCCA 02007

Every year Neilalien supports MoCCA and gets himself a goodie (win-win!) with a Doctor-Strange-related drawing by an artist sketching for MoCCA donations. This year's sketch is a weird zombified Doc by acclaimed fantasy and Marvel Zombies artist Arthur Suydam [see the sweet full scan]! It makes Neilalien as happy as a little ghoul.

Check Out These Items

Comic Foundry Magazine Preview, Tim Leong EIC
These babies were flying off the table at 25 cents each like free crack to hook the neighborhood. From Brian Wood to Buffy, Tomine to Identify That Comics Coitus- after reading this preview, you're going to wish there were more- a lot more comics, people, and witty independent coverage of same- in the comics realm besides and between Wizard and Gary Groth. Let Comic Foundry be a start and a part. We now know from this preview that a fashion-hip feature-filled Entertainment Weekly can be done for comics- Neilalien can't wait to see if it can be attached to some meatier stuff and interviews. Tim, it is time to yield, er, we mean wield, your power! ;)

Action Figure: From The Journals of Richard Marzelak #1 by Richard MarcejAction Figure is loosely based on the creator's own real-life days working as an artist for Hasbro in the 80's. Told from the perspective of lost diaries found in an estate in 2053 of a once-young, imaginative but frustrated toy package designer, this comic is richly cartooned, with thick dynamic lines, expressive faces, and several fantasy sequences in red, on heavy paper. This #1 might approach too much ye olde autobiocomix misanthropy towards a bad boss/workplace for Neilalien's tastes, but it's in an enjoyable context. Apparently, many wacky insider stories from the 80's toy boom- Transformers, GI Joe, etc. (and from later years at Hallmark Cards) are on the way- so anyone who ever played with those toys will especially want to watch for issues of AF. [preview at Baboon Books]

Nebuli by Vasilis Lolos and Becky Cloonan
Hey John? Nebuli is a self-published minicomic collecting the fun-with-sci-fi microtales of two astronaut fellows exploring odd wonders of the universe together. Lolos and Cloonan randomly and mind-meldingly traded the art with each other as the book formed. Out since last year, but so far only available at conventions. Take it from an extraterrestrial like Neilalien: if you check out this comic, and remember to never insert warm space beer into your liquid intake slot, you will have all the happiness a human can know.

Zombie Cat by C.M. Butzer
The subtitle of the self-published minicomic MoCCA 02007 debut says it all: "The heartworming tale of a girl and her cat." A girl who can cast spells to bring her dead cat back in undead form, that is. The cat's reaction upon his return to see his name crossed out on his old food bowls cracked Neilalien up. A delightful comics object- but you might want to look away periodically, or you might see a bit too much Emily the Strange meets Bill the Cat from Bloom County. Butzer resides in Brooklyn, and is involved in/doing several interesting comics projects to check out, like the Rabid Rabbit anthology, POW! (no not that Stan Lee POW!), and a graphic novel detailing the life of the Civil War (no not that Civil War) abolitionist John Brown.

Honorable Mentions

Scars and Bars by William Rees and Jason Moser
This dark, hefty OGN tome is a brutal modern noir that follows two paths in New York City, both just released from prison: a psychopathic, recently-fired corrections officer, and a once-promising but fight-throwing boxer who's finished serving 13 years. Several neat storytelling decisions throughout, like the small panels to convey an exciting boxing match, different speech balloon styles for different people, inserting boxing reportage and NYC maps and photo backgrounds, etc. A real creepy sense of violence is present. There is something here. The book does feel a bit clunky though, due to misspellings and similar errors, and noir cliches and trappings like "people don't really talk that way"-ism. While the murky art serves the story, and maybe those are all supposed to be soulless gazes and slow stiff movements and "people in the underworld and prison don't emote" on purpose- the artist needs to find new ways to do eyes, more facial expressions, and use fewer repeat and near-repeat panels- because Neilalien thinks this book looks filled with mannequins. [preview pages at Heavy Proton]

Alpha Ellipsis #1-2 by Scott Mazurkiewicz
A minicomic created on computer and color printer, Alpha Ellipsis begins the sci-fi story of an automaton on a mission of exploration and colonization for humans (with live cargo in stasis) emerging from a black hole damaged and, ultimately, 50 years before it left. Promising. The way the aliens converse with each other in #2 is creative. Could definitely use proofreading (misspellings, the planet's coordinates change between issues, etc.). If, like Neilalien, you think that there just isn't enough genre work, rather than autobiographical stuff, taking advantage of the low barrier of entry into comics, a couple bucks lands you Alpha Ellipsis.

Updates on Past Neilalien Faves of MoCCA

Michael Cavallaro, ACT-I-VATE-r and creator of 66 Thousand Miles Per Hour, has a new, rich and well-previewed book coming out in September via Image called Parade (With Fireworks) [preview pages] [The Beat pimps]. Cavallaro explains: "These are tales that I grew up hearing from my relatives. The basis of the comic spans decades of my family's history on their journeys from an Italian countryside lost between two World Wars, to the coal mines of the American south and the factories of the Northeast. Parade is the beginning of these stories." If you want this title, and you should, and note it's a two-parter: you will want to make the extra effort of pre-ordering through Previews ASAP.

Going by how many times different people asked Neilalien, "Have you seen My Boy?" [Jog review] [Bart Beaty's review] [which is also Mon Fiston by Olivier Schrauwen and published by Bries], that's probably going to be the book of this year's MoCCA. Hulk says looks like old newspaper comics, pretty and subversive. The European presence at MoCCA caused quite the excited stir and gave the festival its first international feel, while still staying true to its minicomic roots. Paul Pope's PulpHope: The Art Of Paul Pope also generated a long line and supplies disappeared quickly.

Question fansite VicSage.com thanks Neilalien for his support with some Doctor Strange art! [image at VicSage.com]
You're very welcome! Does the Orb reveal that this June marks 40 years since Ditko characters The Question and Blue Beetle first appeared?

Dr. Strange all over Marvel's September solicits [Comic Book Resources]
New Avengers #34 (we've been told Night Nurse will appear), World War Hulk #4 (going by the variant Romita Jr. cover, this is the Doc fight), guesting in the Spider-Man "One More Day" storyline, guesting in Fantastic Four #550, Mystic Arcana: Sister Grimm, Avengers/Defenders War Premiere Hardcover (back when heroes fighting heroes was cool, and it ended in heroic fashion, unlike Civil War), and Ultimate Spider-Man TPB Volume 18: Ultimate Knights (collecting Ultimate Spider-Man #106-110, with the boring Ultimate Doc) [thanks to Sanctum for some FYIs].

A very Skrully Brian Bendis interview [Newsarama]
It sounds like (a) Tony Stark and all the recent assholeness in the Marvel heroes haven't been Skrulls all along (too bad- was kinda hoping), and (b) the Illuminati really messed up after the Kree/Skrull War.

Utopiates

Utopiates, by Josh Finney and Kat Rocha, and published by Bloodfire Studios, describes two bleak worlds: a cyberpunk outer world of the near future, and the moody inner world of drug addiction and identity loss. The black-and-white art has an effective digital clip-art style suited to telling tales in those worlds. A "utopiate" is an RNA injectable drug that temporarily provides the personality, feelings, experiences, abilities, etc.- "mental imprint" or "soul"- of another person. The lonely want 'Family'; soldiers dose away their fears before combat; try taking 'Porn Star' during sex. The costs, however, can be more permanent. Laced with the dark devastation of Philip-K.-Dick-ian pharmaceuticals dealt by a mysterious pusher, Utopiates is a comic that deserves a chance to hook you. [Utopiates homepage, for previews and purchasing] [positive Broken Frontier review]

Braindump: Doctor Strange in Recent New Avengers

Neilalien is enjoying this book. The team banter entertains; the non-linear storytelling works. Yu's art has been improving with every issue. Considering that several other Avengers are just near-indistinguishably punching and cracking jokes, Doctor Strange comes off well, as powerful and different. And the Skrull surprise looks like it could be great fun (although not the Earth-shattering page it was hyped to be). Now- on to the nitpicks! Doc ends up about even versus Neilalien's strict fanboy eye.

#28: Doc's Sloppy Recon Mission (-2). Ms. Marvel tells Spider-Woman that Captain America is still alive, and being held by SHIELD at The Raft/Ryker's Island. An obvious feed of trap-like info, but the heroes are hopeful. Doc goes in astral form to confirm the intel. He sees Captain America on a slab under heavy guard, breathing thing over his mouth, strapped down because, as Doc overhears, "in case he wakes up". Doc pops back to report that it's not a trap. The New Avengers teleport in- and it is a trap. The man on the slab is not Captain America (Wolverine smells it), and the Mighty Avengers are waiting.

The problem for Neilalien is that Doc's obviously going to use the Eye of Agamotto here to determine if it's really Captian America. It travels with him in astral form (unlike his Cloak- ahem). He uses it habitually. The Eye would have easily seen through the deception.

Doctor Strange has been written as if he were a Champions RPG character with a 200-point Mind Scan power inadvertently allowed into the campaign. It can be very frustrating for gamemasters and writers to deceive or trap such a character, or write a mystery with them. If we want interesting stories, Doc shouldn't be that powerful- it has to be possible to fool Doc, but there has to be a nod. Doc can be shot, but give the gun an evil history. Doc can be trapped, but throw us an interesting bone. It doesn't take much. We're left with the concept that Doc's recon is sloppy and incompetent. Is he overcome with emotion to excitedly get back to the group and tell them the great American icon is alive? He's supposed to be a man not easily swayed by emotion.

It was a good plan by Iron Man: send out false info to the fugitives and set up a fake alive Captain America trap- and it's a good item in the story. But given Doc's massive divination and perception abilities- there is no nod. Perhaps by keeping Captain America tantalizingly visible but otherwise blocked from scrying, teleportation, etc., by mystical means, maybe by a mystic on Iron Man's side (but who/what can block the Eye?). But when IM says in #29 that he wasn't expecting Doctor Strange to be on the fugitives' side, that seals it: there could have been no preparations then to block an astral form's recon.

Neilalien maybe would have done it this way: Have Doc stay home and use the Orb to scry the facility instead. The New Avengers all see the image of Captain America, overhear the guard, everyone knows you don't have to strap down a dead man, and the New Avengers beg Doc to teleport them there immediately. This has the advantages of (a) maybe Doc can detect less through the Orb and/or from long distance, and (b) if he's swept up by the moment, at least it's the entire group's emotion.

#29: The Images of Miftana Fantadada (0). The New Avengers escape the above trap with a great scene of Doctor Strange casting a spell that shows each of the Mighty Avengers' fears in their minds. Neilalien would have loved if this were shown as what it was: the Images of Ikonn. But we get one of Neilalien's many pet peeves instead: a spell of nonsense words. Granted, ancient Vishanti spells probably aren't written in English, and in the past some of Doc's longer poetic incantations have brought the action to a halt- but we have a great 45-year tradition here, and randomly hitting the keyboard doesn't add any sense of wonder or mystery. The only thing worse is Zatanna's backword-speak. Why not have Doc quickly intone, "The Images of Ikonn!" in the funky font/speech balloon? +1 for Doc competently using a spell, -1 for the mumbo-jumbo.

#29: The Sanctum Starbucksum (+1). +1 for not letting Doctor Strange's spell to make the Sanctum look rundown and empty be defeated by Iron Man's science. Bonus: The spell is so complete, or Doc was thorough: the Starbucks corporation has papers confirming the sale.

#29: In The Doc-king Bay (0). So Doc flatly states that he can't pop everyone to Japan, but he does apparently pop everyone to a local plane (that would be an airplane, not a plane as in plane of existence). Just feeling out this Doctor Strange's power level.

#30: Brother Voodoo (+2). Any appearance by Brother Voodoo is a good appearance, especially when he's actually doing something voodoo-like (+1). And +1 for having Iron Man turn to mystical means against Doc. Maybe if we had more mystical characters and rogues galleries developed in the Marvel Universe, Doc's overpower could be countered in more sensical ways. But -1 because Voodoo would not work with Iron Man (he has a great line though: "I wonder what the ~criminals~ are doing." Iron Man cuts him off with, "Yes, thank you."). Can't think of who else it could have been, unless you go into the criminal ranks (is Moondragon around?)- Iron Man actually mentions in #29 that Voodoo is "the only magician-slash-mystic I could find who would even come near [the Sanctum]". And +1 because at least the lower-power Voodoo could not penetrate Doc's spell. Although Neilalien would have been totally okay with Voodoo sensing an incomplete something, but then not telling Iron Man. Stick it to the Man!

[Update: A couple of Voodooboosters have emailed claiming that this is exactly what does happen- the Voodoo sees, and doesn't tell Iron Man. After another look at the smoky pause panel with Voodoo's sidelong glance- it's certainly a legit interpretation. Voodoo's blunt "No, I'm not sure" conversation afterwards (and pro-Doc blinders?) still makes Neilalien ultimately think Voodoo saw nothing- but it would be great if Voodoo were competent and screwing over Iron Man, too. U-Decide!]

#30: The Spell of Tartashi (-1). Speaking of Doc's massive divination and perception abilities- he now has a spell that reveals if anyone in the room has malicious intentions against him. This gets a fat -1 for the delicious incongruity: just as Bendis toils against past depictions which have rendered Doc unfoolable, Bendis hands Doc a tool that makes him even more unfoolable in the future... Would this spell reveal any skrulls in the room? The last page of #31 suggests that the child is a skrull or half-skrull- but since it only detects intention, perhaps the innocent child isn't revealed (it laughed (maybe sinisterly? ;) )), or one of its parents is a skrull but now has a kid with a human and doesn't hate humans anymore, or some now-absent skrull agent interfered with an otherwise normal human pregnancy.

#30: Doc Gets Stabbed (0). In #31, we find out that The Hand's "dark magic" is involved- his astral form is trapped in his body- so it's okay if he gets stabbed, since it's not merely a mundane blade. The Hand is a perfect enemy choice for this New Avengers lineup- lots of grunts to punch, and a magic aspect for Doctor Strange.

#31: Wong Can Drive Doc's Karkuthi (-1). Doc deals with the stabbage and frees his astral form by activating the Orb remotely to get Wong's help. Wong reads an incantation from a tome called the Karkuthi which rescues Doc. It's cool that Doc phones home, and any depiction of Wong as a competent ally is great too. But this is a huge -1 because it bumps into another one of Neilalien's million pet peeves about Dr. Strange: it shows that any schmuck can cast a spell! Or at least read ancient mystical script. Can everyone lift Mjolnir? Can everyone build the Iron Man armor? It devalues Doc every time it's shown that Wong, Reed Richards, etc., can just read a scrap of paper and use magic. The solution: Have Wong hold up the open book to the Orb, so Doc can read the unmemorized spell and cast it himself.

Some readers might be looking for Dr. Strange to pay another price for his actions in the pages of "New Avengers: The Illuminati" #5. "The Illuminati will be outed but that was a fake-out to tell people because the big reveal in issue #5 has to do with the Skrulls," Bendis explained. "Their discovery and the fact that it might be the Illuminati's fault is the big story that ties up the mini-series. The Illuminati will be outed later in the year, which won't help with the Skrull mistrust."

Wow, we're going on years that Bendis has been incapable of mentioning "Doctor Strange" without "pay the price", "tear him down", etc. Notice that "another" price in the above quote- Bendis lets it slip that there will definitely be one. All of this attention would be exciting to Doc fans if there were any reason to hope for some kind of redemption, validation, re-build-up, etc., of the Doc character on the other side.

QUESTION: Who of the Illuminati is most likely to die during WWH?
ANSWER: Pak hinted that since Dr. Strange probably had the deepest relationship with the Hulk due to being together with him during The Defenders. Thus logically it may hurt more when The Hulk is betrayed by friends, and thus Dr. Strange might be singled out.

Since the Skrulls seemed confounded by Doctor Strange and magic in New Avengers: Illuminati #1, and Doc's been casting spells, then Doc isn't a Skrull [The Life of Moj]
Neilalien almost wishes Doc was a Skrull in all this...

Looks like Dr. Strange will be part of "One More Day", the final pre-consolidation storyline. Doc's on the cover of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 casting the "Heinous Hands of Death". There's also some preview pencils of Spidey visiting the shuttered-disguised Sanctum at the above links.

How are the people who don't want three Spidey books a month and make Friendly Neighborhood and Sensational half the sales of Amazing going to react? [Paul O'Brien: If Destroyed, Still True]

The Jonathan Ross Steve Ditko documentary is finished; will likely not be released for sale?, so set your DVRs or search on YouTube [Best Of Most Of]

Stan Lee signs deal with Disney: Disney to get first dibs at new projects he develops [ICv2]
Stan Lee working on an MTV animated series featuring Paris Hilton; Disney don't want those dibs [ICv2]

If you're in NYC, you must see Living Dead In Denmark [Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company]
For the next two nights only. The hilarious play is an action-adventure/horror sequel to Hamlet. From the great cast of creators, crew and characters who brought us Men of Steel (<crushlorn sigh> including Melissa Paladino </crushlorn sigh>). It's a blast!

Since it was play night, Neilalien didn't get to beam into the comics shop today, but New Avengers #31 (did the last page break the Earth in half?), Mystic Arcana: Magik, and probably World War Hulk #1 came out today for the Doctor Strange/Marvel Mystic Universe fans [Diamond Comics Shipping List].

World War Hulk vs. Doctor Strange previewed [Comic Book Resources]
Sounds like the battle balancers are (a) Doc will be the "good guy", while the Hulk will have no such burden (it would be nice to see Doc act heroically again compared to the Illuminati stuff, but notice how he only does because the writer needs to make a fight more even), and (b) the Hulk will have a mystical ally:

Strange presumably could destroy the Hulk with the faintest twitch of his littlest finger, but his own conscience and code as the Sorcerer Supreme might actually work against him... And we still don't know the full extent of the powers of Hulk's Warbound ally Hiroim the Oldstrong, who took on the possibly mystic powers of the Shadow Elders when they were incinerated in Sakaar's Crown City.

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic, out today, is filled with lots of Doctor-Strange-related entries and goodness. It's almost like reading Neilalien's website. Listings include:

Cadaver (this Secret Defenders member's entry states that time moved at different rates on Earth and in the War of the Seven Spheres; he is/was also the Fist of Agamotto, and wielder of the Sword of Bone)

many talismans of mystic power: Amulet of Agamotto (or Lesser Eye), Eye of Agamotto, Orb of Agamotto (called the largest of the three eyes of Agamotto; in the Vishanti entry, the three Eyes we know from Doom 2099 is an alternate reality), Wings of Needless Sorrow, etc.

many tomes of eldritch knowledge: Book of the Vishanti, Darkhold, etc.

Marvel reusing the "Order" name- but it will be the Champions now, not the Defenders [Newsarama] [Doc uber-fan Sanctum on the Defenders Message Board]
They originally wanted to use the 'Overlords' for the Defenders' Order, but 'Overlords' was owned by someone else. Now, 'Champions' is owned by someone else too (and wow, it's not the Hero Games Champions RPG people Neilalien assumed it would be).

This past weekend included a wonderful joy for Neilalien: finally meeting longtime comics blogger and email friend In Sequence in person during her weekend trip to NYC. A great time was had by all. In Sequence can be a barnacle on Neilalien's boat anytime. ;)

Current Fortune magazine dated 28 May 02007 has an article about Marvel movies; Dr. Strange part of story graphics [looks like you can read it for free with usable Olive ActiveMagazine website/app; story starts on page 104] [thanks Sanctum!]

The Spider-Man movies have made a mint, but not for Spidey's publisher. Now the company is making its own films and recruiting its B-list characters for starring roles. Does Marvel's new studio chief have the superpowers he'll need?

Thumbs-up for Action Heroes Archives Volume Two [Not Much'a Nothin']
A good month for Ditko fans re: this and the Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus.

New Avengers #34 to include Night Nurse [Joey Q Fridays at Newsarama]
Let's get some of that Oath goodness firmly into continuity. (Er, Neilalien should add "positively"- hopefully Night Nurse won't be shown in a big break-up with Doc, getting killed, a cat fight with Clea (hmmm?), or something stupid like that.)

New Avengers #31's last page to start what will eventually be Marvel's 02008 mega-crossover [Lying In The Gutters; doesn't spoil it]
It will likely be underordered- no one believes the boy who cried "Hype!"- so Dr. Strange completists should ensure they get their copy.

FYI Doc fans: Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness #3 has some fun with Ash in the Sanctum Sanctorum
Dr. Strange doesn't appear, but his monstrous books do; also Wong feeding Dr. Druid- and it's not tea and crumpets- booya!

New Avengers: Illuminati #3 Mini-Rant:

Doctor Strange does absolutely nothing, nor anything unique to him, again. Professor Xavier could have just as easily determined that the people in the Beyonder's Manhattan aren't real.

The Beyonder now has some odd Inhuman-mutant origin now that sucks any shred of cosmic mystery from the character. Not that anyone gives a shit- nor should they. Neilalien liked the retcon's payoff of regal Namor treating the Beyonder as a child (because he's disrespecting his king Black Bolt)- but we've seen that 'overcome an omnipotent child with old-fashioned stern parenting' thing a million times.

At one point, the Beyonder exclaims, "I can make the world the way you want it!" Then we get glimpses- Stark/Reed tech everywhere, and Namor invading the surface world- which is referred to later as his fantasy (cool!). So what was Doctor Strange's fantasy glimpse? He's in bed with two women. Clea and- at first Neilalien thought it was the new ethnicized Topaz, but the headdress peeking on the nightstand means it's the Scarlet Witch. Well, thanks Marvel, for throwing Neilalien a bone re: his recent essay- and if Doc fans squint, maybe it's suggesting that all mystical threats to Earth have been defeated, and Doc can reconnect with humanity again. Neilalien thinks that just showing Doc and Clea frolicking naked in a magickal realm would have been perfect- but now he's left wondering if Marvel thinks Doctor Strange's highest goal in life is no higher than a menage-a-trois.

Overall, the issue was boring to Neilalien- no explodo, the chessmatch with the Beyonder wasn't interesting enough (if Black Bolt isn't shown as tempted by the Beyonder's offer to grant him control over his voice power, then there is no chessmatch nor Marvel Universe tragedy life-blood here), and he doesn't care about the white-suited Charlie X and Secret Wars. New Avengers: Illuminati #3 left Neilalien wondering which is worse: rendering this powerful Marvel Universe group as unheroic, as previously seen, or as just boring.

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